Monday, January 31, 2011

Victory always tastes sweet...

As you may remember, last term I was struggling amidst a fiery battle between my artistic endeavours and the calls of the academic world.

In the end, both sides ended the war due to a mutual agreement for a peaceful ceasefire.

Then along came sweet, innocent Republic Bank.

They sent out a memo to Hillview, inviting art students to enter a lovely competition they were about to host.

The Young Artists' Canvas To The World Project .

The prizes seemed soooo alluring.......

$5,000 voucher for the purchase of Art supplies for the school,

$5,000 for the artist per selected entry

AND!!!!

The artwork would be placed AT THE PIARCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT for display TO THE WORLD!!!

Well, needless to say, I began salivating at the thought of entering this ambitious competition.

The calls of this task were daunting beyond belief as I tried hard to forget the sadistic cries of my Chemistry, Physics and Additional Mathematics books.

I could hear them screaming, 'Forget the art, my boy...We're what's gonna make you somebody...'

I responded to those books by giving them rationed attention.

Physics- 30 minutes

Chemistry - 30 minutes

Additional Maths - until fatigued

ART..... ALL POSSIBLE FREE TIME

I was just thanking God that Geography was the first exam on my schedule, defeating that subject would be the key to my success or failure in the academic realm. Everything else became secondary.

I managed to squeeeze in some art during the exam prep, but most of that time became brain busting sessions with my wonderful artistic educator, Mrs. Davis.

My parents and I would count down the remaining hours of the day by continuing these sessions for the rest of the night.

Then, in the morning,

I consulted with my friends to fine tune ideas and to develop new, fresh ones.

My brain was drained out until...we all finally decided on a single beautiful concept for the painting.

This was definitely going to be a strong piece for selection.

I started dutifully painting on the background in the art studio at school the week before exams.

I continued like a loyal slave at home.

During the evaluation period at Hillview, I do believe that I had my most productive sessions for painting. I painted in the studio during the break between exams on a daily basis and I worked extremely hard in the comfort of my home on the days of no testing.

The day finally came when I bubbled with pride as I looked at my creation. Every aspect of Trinidad could be seen in this beauty.

The rush was on for submission...

In the space of two hours, my parents and I rushed to school to get the official school stamp, raced down the roadways of the East/West Corridor to get into Port of Spain, and ran down to Republic Bank's headquarters on Park Street to submit my piece on the second floor.

We then scrambled to get something to eat after submission (this was around 2:43pm) at Grand Bazaar. Then, I was supposed to head off to lessons...